CSS ''Tacony'' was originally a bark captured by the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

cruiser CSS ''Clarence'' during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

and converted into a Confederate cruiser for

commerce raiding Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than en ...

. The CSS ''Clarence'', commanded by Lt. Charles W. Read, captured the ''Tacony'' on June 12, 1863, and since it was a better ship suited for

, the crew and armaments were transferred to it and the ''Clarence'' was destroyed. In its brief career as a Confederate cruiser, it captured several ships: The ''Whistling Ada'', ''Arabella'', ''Byzantium'', ''Elizabeth Ann'', ''Florence'', ''Goodspeed'', ''Isaac Webb'', ''Z.A. Macomber'', ''Marengo'', ''Ripple'', ''Rufus Choate'', ''Shattemuc'', ''Umpire,'' and ''Wanderer''. Its final capture was the schooner ''Archer'' on June 25, 1863, which is a better ship suited for

, the crew and armaments were transferred to it and the ''Tacony'' was destroyed.

Officers and crew

* Lt. Charles W. Read, commander. * Billups, Matthewson, and Pride, master's mates. * Brown, engineer. * 16 men.

Notes and references

* Tacony Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Maritime incidents in June 1863 {{AmericanCivilWar-stub